Job Discussion Forums

[Alpha Murdock]

Can you tell me if my dream-life plan will even work?

BACKGROUND: My girlfriend and I will be getting married before we execute this entire plan, if that matters for visa purposes. I'm a professional writer. It's a job I can do from anywhere in the world remotely and I make a steady $85k USD per year + benefits from an international corporation. I have a BA and a Masters in English with a focus in writing, and 2 years teaching experience as a TA, but no ESL certs.

My girlfriend works as a elementary school teacher with a specialty in ESL. Again, by the time we save up enough and move toward this she will have several years of American public school teaching under her belt. No teaching-abroad-type ESL certs but she is a certified public school teacher in Texas with her state ESL certification.

We both have several years of experience teaching ESL at volunteer schools here in the US (we live in Texas so there are plenty of such opportunities).

THE DREAM: We don't ever plan on having children. I am very burned out on the corporate rat race and we are both suffering from a bit of wanderlust. I would love for the two of us to sell what we own and work abroad for an indefinite period of time, jumping from country to country every year of six months (unless we find a place that suits us) where she could teach ESL, preferably to children but she has experience with adults as well, and I could continue my writing career and continue to draw the same salary.

So now the questions:

1)) Would whatever visa she received for teaching cover me too? Would I be able to work for an international company (based in the US) and draw the salary I do abroad legally? What would this mean for me taxation-wise?


2) ) Are there some ESL schools or certifications that are better than others? We are both open to pursuing the necessary certifications to make this happen.

3) She has asthma and gets bad migraines. She takes regular medication for both that would be prohibitively expensive without insurance. Is it hard to find jobs abroad that will cover the cost of medical insurance?

4) Are a lot of good schools / placements unlikely to take on someone who is married that is bringing along a spouse?

5) I am willing to teach part time while I'm abroad (my job is very easy for me and doesn't take me too much time). I would eventually like to make the transition to teaching at the University level back in the US one day. What would be the likelihood that I might be able to acquire experience teaching at the university level abroad with a degree in English, a masters degree and an ESL certification?

Thanks everyone in advance. This site is a a great resource and I look forward to becoming part of your community.

[tttompatz]

[nomad soul]

Your questions about schools, med insurance, and such are difficult to answer because you didn't specify where in the world you want to go. What countries are at the top of your list? Which ones are a total no-go for you?

By the way, teaching English in a non-English speaking country is typically referred to as EFL not ESL.

[Glenski]

[Alpha Murdock]

Thanks for the fantastic advice and feedback, everyone. It sounds like the consensus is that my questions are too general to be addressed without picking a country (which we honestly haven�t done yet). I grew up in West Africa, France and Germany and would love to go back to those countries. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and loves Mexico, Peru and Columbia and would love to go there. We�ve also talked about exploring Egypt, Turkey, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. (You tell me to �pick a country� and I pick ten. Sorry, but we aren�t really prepared to lower down the list right now and would be happy with any of the above placements).

[tttompatz]

It is a big planet and this is a global forum so at least narrowing it down to a continent would make it a bit easier.

If you both only hold US passports then that will narrow your scope a bit (at least in ESL/EFL); a large part of western Europe is off the scope.

As a general rule of thumb, EFL wages in Central and South America (south of Mexico) are not very good.

The Middle East pays much better than most but it is not the easiest region to live and work in.

East/SE Asia does have its ups and downs and with the exceptions of China and Korea the majority of jobs (in EFL not proper international schools) will require you to be on the ground and in-country to even be considered. Pick a country, buy a ticket and off you go. The chances of finding work are pretty much 100%.

If you/she wants work in proper international schools then you pretty much missed the bus for this year. Additionally, you won't find much on the ESL/EFL boards/forums for that type of work. Look at places like "Search Associates, tes.co.uk/jobs, ibo.org, etc. Job fairs are the usual route to these jobs.

Your working under the radar as a writer and paid in your own country will have no consequence to your foreign status as a dependent when abroad.

.

[nomad soul]

[coledavis]

Three general points:
Your degrees in English may lead to part-time jobs that do not require teaching, e.g. translating work, report polishing etc.
Your spouse's ability to teach small children makes her quite a catch (that was certainly my experience in Kiev, as somebody who didn't have this!).
You mention placements of six months or a year; people generally want you for a year, usually from September, the shorter hops are unusual and I certainly wouldn't rule them in on a regular basis.

1)) Would whatever visa she received for teaching cover me too? Would I be able to work for an international company (based in the US) and draw the salary I do abroad legally? What would this mean for me taxation-wise?
Language schools: possibly not, but if as seems likely, you can afford to train for a TEFL, then the skills of your spouse may make a school invite you even if they don't really need you much.
I'm not American, so I'll duck the pay/tax issue.

2) ) Are there some ESL schools or certifications that are better than others? We are both open to pursuing the necessary certifications to make this happen.
In terms of acceptability, the CELTA and Trinity Cert are best. Your spouse could do the CELTYL (a variant for teaching children, but doing the adult course would round out her skill set, making her a better catch still.

3) She has asthma and gets bad migraines. She takes regular medication for both that would be prohibitively expensive without insurance. Is it hard to find jobs abroad that will cover the cost of medical insurance?
Country-specific, I rather think. And job-specific.

4) Are a lot of good schools / placements unlikely to take on someone who is married that is bringing along a spouse?
A few ask for married couples ('good', not a clue). But you people can sell yourselves (marketing I mean, not Faustian bargains, although both are possible). If you are particularly attractive to a company, then they are likely to have your spouse come with you, then she looks around for some teaching in the area. Or the other way round, although schools often like to avoid bureaucracy (very complex in some countries).

5) I am willing to teach part time while I'm abroad (my job is very easy for me and doesn't take me too much time). I would eventually like to make the transition to teaching at the University level back in the US one day. What would be the likelihood that I might be able to acquire experience teaching at the university level abroad with a degree in English, a masters degree and an ESL certification?
Country-specific. In Russia, you would need an element of your degree to include applied linguistics, not just an ESL qualification.

[Glenski]

[coledavis]